Sacramento Kings Brace for a DeMarcus Cousins Suspension

The NBA will likely suspend DeMarcus Cousins for the elbow he threw at Mike Dunleavy Jr.’s head, and the Sacramento Kings are preparing themselves for the possibility. They expect to face the Chicago Bulls on Wednesday without their young, temperamental center. Per the Sac Bee: “It would be Cousins’ fourth suspension this season, his third from the league. The Kings do not have any additional discipline planned for their leading scorer and rebounder. ‘In terms of the flagrants, the technicals, that’s really the league’s jurisdiction,’ Kings basketball president Geoff Petrie said. ‘That’s pretty black and white.’ Cousins was called for his 12th technical foul before being ejected, leaving him four away from an automatic one-game suspension. The flagrant foul 2, worth two flagrant foul points, was Cousins’ second this season. He also has a flagrant foul 1. One more point would mean an automatic one-game suspension. ‘Hopefully, he’ll get a chance to play against Chicago,’ guard Tyreke Evans said. Whenever Cousins returns to the court, he’ll need to control himself. ‘It’s an ongoing conversation with him and coaches and any number of people in the office about him trying to contain his emotions,’ Petrie said. Agents, teammates, opposing players and retired legends have all tried to counsel Cousins. But this season, Cousins is second in the NBA in technical fouls and leads the league with four ejections. ‘You can give a person as much advice as you can,’ forward Jason Thompson said. ‘From us, to coaches, to Hall of Famers, to whatever. But at the end of the day, you’re in this league because you’re a grown man. You’re going to do what you want to do.’”